Match, Set, Tsunkat
by The Lady Mage
Summary: There are so many what-if's in life. What if it wasn't Tuvok taken with Seven in S6E15 'Tsunkatse', but Chakotay? How would they deal with the ins and outs of backstage life in the greatest competitive sport in Norcadia's solar system? When Voyager is out of reach, and your life is only as valuable as your rank and ratings, can they survive the match? WIP, Eventual C/7
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes: Yeah, its been a long time since I uploaded anything, and I know that there are people waiting on Happenstance and What We Need, but this is what I can wrap my head around right now. Hopefully it will jog me on the others because I really want to finish them. Life just gets in the way sometimes... Anyway, thank you to Scifiromance and Starshine for being my sounding boards and letting me tell them a story (whether they wanted to hear it or not LOL). **

**This first chapter follows closely to the actual episode 'Tsunkatse' just to set it up, but with original content added to change the characters around to how I want them. **

**Legalities: DO NOT OWN. DO NOT PASS GO. DO NOT COLLECT 200 CREDITS.**

**Read, Review, Enjoy!**

**~LM**

**XXX**

"Oh, and Tuvok is going to run a diagnostic on the shield generators." Kathryn said with a big grin, keeping a brisk pace down the hallway towards the shuttle bay. "It's way long overdue."

Chakotay smiled ruefully, his arms folded behind his back as he kept up with his Captain while she crossed her T's and dotted her I's. "I'm sure you can consider it done."

"Yes," Kathryn nodded. "Oh! I almost forgot! Tell Tuvok to keep an eye on Neelix's little pet project in the messhall. He's still trying to enhance the plasma burners, but with some of Seven's Borg technology. I don't want him accidentally assimilating half the galley- we both know how big of a mess that would be." At the Commander's amused snort, she stopped and turned back towards the hallway they had just walked through, her expression pensive. "Perhaps I should go tell Tuvok myself-"

Chakotay gently put a hand on her shoulder, halting her retracing her steps. "Captain, I'll assign a security detail to keep a sharp eye on him myself. The Pendari are expecting you."

When Kathryn turned back to him, it was with a little half smile and a nod. "Yes, yes, I remember." she mumbled.

"Anything else?"

"Yes!" Kathryn grinned. "Most importantly, Chakotay, be sure to tell your Captain when she is being too overprotective!"

The Commander chuckled, waiting for Kathryn to move first into the shuttle bay. "I'll make sure to do that, Captain." The shuttle the Captain would be taking, along with Ensign Culhane and Lieutenant MacAlister, was prepped and ready. The two young men were just finishing packing away the last of the storage crates that had been filled with tradables as Chakotay and Kathryn paused just out of earshot.

Kathryn gave Chakotay's arm a motherly pat. "Oh, and thank you for agreeing to accompany Seven today. I apologize for digging into your shoreleave. What is it that you have been doing lately? Tsunami matches?"

The Commander held in his snort, but his amusement was easy to read in the slight creasing around his eyes and the mirthful curve of his cupid's bow lips. "Tsunkatse. Quite a few of us have been watching the matches."

"Ah, yes, Tsunkatse. All the same, thank you for stepping in. I would send Tuvok along with her if not for the-"

"_Tal-Shanar_, yes." Chakotay cut in, a little irritated at being reminded that he would be missing the next four Tsunkatse bouts. The mirthful grin was replaced with a reserved smile.

"He's been very secretive about it." commented Kathryn, adjusting the strap of her overnight bag on her shoulder.

Chakotay shrugged. "Vulcans."

"Right.." Kathryn pursed her lips, going over her list in her head one last time. Satisfied she had checked every box, she took a step back from her first officer and towards the shuttle to take her to the next star system. "Well, I think that's all of it. Try to have a little fun while I'm gone."

"Yes, Captain. Will do." He looked up to the crewman standing ready by the open shuttle hatch. "Do keep her in line, will you?"

Lieutenant MacAlister laughed, nodding. "Yes, sir, Commander!"

"I will take my leave then." Chakotay smirked. "Enjoy your trip. Even the Captain needs a little vacation now and then."

"I'll keep that in mind."

**XXX**

"Chakotay!"

The Commander had almost made it ten feet before he was pounced upon, turning back to see B'Elanna sprint the last few paces to his side. He continued on with her falling into easy step with him. "Hello, B'Elanna."

"Yeah, hi- so there's another match scheduled for fifteen hundred hours. Tom and I will save you a seat-"

"I'm afraid I won't be able to make it today." Chakotay frowned.

B'Elanna paused her step in surprise, her choked scoff halting him as well. "What? Why?"

"Something has come up." he answered, moving his arm out to let her lead the way, pulling her back into motion towards the messhall. No matter how disappointed he felt at the prospect of missing the outcome of Torvak the Vanquisher against Mighty Meeso, his stomach continued to rumble for some lunch after spending a long morning helping Kathryn prepare to leave.

"Something has come up?" B'Elanna scrunched her nose, falling back into step with the Commander. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you in command until the Captain gets back?"

"Okay, you're wrong." He smirked at the surprised look on her face, leading her through the sliding double doors into the messhall. "Tuvok is taking command."

"Tuvok? Over- ugh!" B'Elanna cut herself off with a disgusted frown as they looked over the window into the galley at a gelatinous pot of bubbling yellow jelly on Neelix's front burner. "Please tell me that's not lunch!"

Neelix popped up from behind the counter at the sound of B'Elanna's voice. Even as painfully burned as he was, a hungry belly was a hungry belly. He offered Chakotay and B'Elanna as wide a grin as he was currently physically capable of. "It's not lunch." he mumbled apologetically, his speech curtailed by the tightness of the bright red skin along the right side of his face as he lifted one hand up to hover over the inflamed flesh. The hand he held was also bright red- so red in places that it obscured his spots. "For my skin."

Chakotay clucked sympathetically, eyeing the burned Talaxian. "What happened, Neelix?"

"I was so excited to visit one of those beautiful Norcadian beaches that I forgot to take my dermaline hypospray.." he answered, his words mumbled in his continued attempt to move his burned face as little as possible. "I fell asleep.. under two suns."

B'Elanna cringed at the idea. "Ouch."

"Yes.. it's a little more color than I was hoping for, but it will be a lovely amber before you know it.. Can I interest you in a little egg substitute? It was the easiest think to make while I can't.." He hissed again as he reached for the serving spoon nestled in a large warming dish of yellow curds. "The sunburn just makes it a little difficult to reach things."

"Maybe you should visit sickbay." suggested B'Elanna. "Maybe the Doctor has something to help you."

The Talaxian managed a weak chuckle and a painful half smile. "Oh, that's what the leola root ointment is for. There's not much you can't do with leola."

"So you've said." chuckled Chakotay.

"Hello, Lieutenant, Commander." Seven interrupted, bussing her lunch tray beside the galley before straightening her back and clasping her hands behind it in her typical stance. She nodded her head towards Chakotay. "Commander, I wanted to thank you for agreeing to accompany me on-"

B'Elanna's eyes widened, her head whipping to the side to see Chakotay's face as she grabbed his forearm. "You're turning down Tsunkatse for-?!"

Chakotay ignored her, managing a pleasant smile for Seven as he nodded. "Yes, the nebula. It's alright, Seven. I'm happy to go."

Between them, the half-Klingon simmered. She pitied Chakotay in that moment, sure that the Captain had all but ordered him to babysit her pet Barbie in her absence and now he would have to miss out on his own shore leave because of it.

The blonde half-smiled. "The micro-nebula itself is on the verge of collapse.. it should be an intellectually stimulating-"

The simmer boiled over. B'Elanna scoffed. "Wait- you're giving up your shore leave for an away mission? To a nebula?!"

"A collapsing micro-nebula." Seven corrected.

There was no hiding the irritated grunt before the hybrid spoke again- this time in a less disgruntled tone as she tried to head Seven off at the pass. "But Seven.." she began placatingly. "Don't you want to take your own shore leave? You could hit up a beach or a resort or a museum..?"

Seven frowned slightly, shaking her head. "The Captain told me that I should use my shore leave to do something that I find interesting. The Delaney sisters and I discovered the nebula on long range sensors yesterday." She shrugged- a human movement she had recently learned to copy. "It interests me."

"The Borg wouldn't know fun if they assimilated a whole theme park." B'Elanna rolled her eyes, taking her tray of egg substitue from Neelix to extricate her from any further conversation with the blonde.

Seven ignored B'Elanna's comment, instead refocusing her attention on Chakotay. "The shuttle will be ready to our departure at 0100 hours."

The Commander nodded as Neelix passed him his own tray. "0100 hours it is. See you then, Seven."

B'Elanna watched Seven leave before heading towards her usual table. "No way out of that one, I guess?"

Chakotay took the seat across from her. "While the Captain is away, there has to be a senior officer on any and all away missions."

"You're the first officer." argued B'Elanna, lifting her fork and stabbing it into the fluffy yellow curds on her plate.

"What's your point?"

"Delegate."

"Delegate, huh?" Chakotay lifted a forkful of egg substitute to his mouth, smirking. "I suppose since you are a senior officer, you could go check out that nebula instead."

"What?!" The Klingon in her growled in instant fury. "No way!"

Chakotay chuckled. "Alright then. Just keep score for me. I'll only be gone for about thirty hours. I'll be back in plenty of time to watch the Red Match with you and Tom at 1800."

B'Elanna rolled her eyes. "I'll hold ya to it."

**XXX**

"Here." Jenny held the shiny metal case out to her superior officer, the last of the delicate equipment Seven would need to study the micro-nebula. "I wish I could go, too." she said as Seven gently took the case from her. "But Meghan wants to hit up this nightclub that all the lower deck girls were talking about." She turned her head back to the green lights above Seven's empty alcove, watching the green sparking current dance behind its round glass. "She's been talking about it all day, and you know her- she won't go without me."

Seven carefully packed the silver case into her carryon container, half-listening to her crewman talk about the more simple of human pastimes. "You are codependent." she assessed- a typical statement that came to her mind when she watched the Delaney twins work for any length of time.

Jenny giggled. "We're _twins_, Seven."

"I am well aware."

The twin rounded the carryon container, peering down inside at the myriad of things Seven had packed for her overnight trip. She smiled, putting her point across in a way she knew the other woman would understand. "Meghan is my collective." When Seven's eyes flicked up to meet hers, she stuck her tongue playfully out.

The blonde gave her a half-smile and a little amused nod. "Well, do enjoy your collective shore leave."

"We will." Being the more playful of the twins, Jenny couldn't resist a good tease. Feigning nonchalance, she leaned back against a storage crate behind her, watching Seven like a cat watching the proverbial canary. "At least you get to go on this away mission with Dreamboat Ali."

Seven scrunched her nose, her packing and sorting paused at such a ludicrous statement. "Pardon me?"

Jenny giggled again. "The Commander, Seven!" she explained playfully. "With him along, the micro-nebula won't be the only view."

"Jenny."

Another giggle. "Hey, I'm just saying that the Commander is very handsome." She held her hands up in surrender at the irritated look falling over Seven's face, but didn't drop the line. "I wouldn't mind being all alone on a shuttle with him overnight, either. I mean, Meghan would probably kill me, but-"

Seven huffed a sigh, looking back down into her container. Even she had to agree that the Commander was a handsome man, but she certainly did not care for being teased over it. However Jenny had figured out that she could cause the capilaries in Seven's cheeks to swell at the mention of the Commander was beyond her. "The Commander.. has many admirable qualities."

Jenny smirked at the pink blush dusting across Seven's cheeks. "Yeah, he does." Her work done, she changed subjects. "Anyway.. since I will be missing out on the trip.. do you think you could.. if I sent along my holocamera..?"

The blonde smiled- a soft smile- as she looked back up at the twin with a nod. "Yes, I will take a picture for you." Even with the teasing, it made things all the more pleasant to have at least one underling that had a brush of passion when it came to their field. She had learned a while ago that the twins would give as good as they got, and an alteration in her manner of speech with them would go a long way. "Perhaps I will take you one of ..Dreamboat Ali.. as well."

Surprised, the twin cackled out a laugh, nodding as she started to head towards the door. "You do that, Seven!" she enthused. "I better get back to Astrometrics. Meghan will want to line out exactly what she and I will wear to the nightclub while we finish up our scans." At Seven's nod, she gave a little wave. "Have a nice trip, Sev- oh! Excuse me, Lieutenant!"

Tom caught the Delaney sister before she could trip over him. "Woah! Hey, Jenny."

Jenny snorted again, giving his shoulder a swat when he released her. "You'd think after six years you could tell us apart! I'm _obviously_ Meghan!" She crossed her arms, giving him a little glare.

Looking positively chastised, Tom bubbled out a quiet, "Oh, I'm sorry, Meghan!"

"Oh, Tom, you're too easy!" said the twin. "I am Jenny." She rolled her eyes as she turned to head out the cargo bay door. "Bye, Seven!"

Tom could only dumbly watch the doors close behind whichever twin storm he had just encountered, confused as much as amused. With a little huff, he turned back towards his target, approaching Seven congenially with his data PADD. "Hey, Seven. I brought the navigational data you asked for."

"Thank you." Seven took the offered PADD and placed it on the closed container's lid before returning to her sorting.

"So.." Tom said, perusing over the amount of items being packed away with a surprised eye. "How long were you planning on being gone?"

"Aproximately thirty hours."

The pilot chuckled. "You're just like B'Elanna."

That caught her attention. Seven stared at him incredulously. "Clarify!"

"Oh, I just mean that she over-packs, too."

"I haven't over-packed." Seven stressed, turning away from him. "I simply wish to be prepared for anything."

"Anything, huh?" Tom murmured, lifting a tool from the open container. "And what is this for?"

"That is an iso-modulator." Seven answered, snatching it back and replacing it as she had it before Tom disturbed its position. "It has been enhanced to correct hull ablation- among other things."

Tom frowned. "Couldn't you just replicate one?"

"I prefer this one." She scowled at his amused laugh. "What?"

"Nothing! It's just.. B'Elanna is the same way. She wants her own tools. Her own things." Tom answered. "It's adorable."

"I see nothing adorable-"

"You know, she still takes a stuffed animal with her if she's going to be gone more than a day or two. Toby the Targ." He backed up to lean against the storage crate Jenny had vacated. "I guess the Borg don't have stuffed Targs."

"You would be correct in that assumption." Seven answered with a roll of her eyes, fitting the second container's lid on and sealing it tight.

**XXX**

Chakotay shifted again in his seat, his breath leaving his lips in another little huff. Beside him, Seven eyed him warily. It was the seventeeth time in the past five hours that he had been restless, and she was fairly certain as to why. Though he was interested in stellar phenomena here and there, too, she knew that he was also interested in the Tsunkatse fights that he was missing to assist her. She had realized he was giving up his own fun, but now she was beginning to wonder if he had volunteered for this trip or had been ordered. As he drummed his fingers over the edge of the console, her stomach dropped. "Commander.. I realize that I am.. taking you away from your social-"

At Seven's self-reproachful tone, Chakotay straightened in his seat. "Excuse me? No, I-"

"I am sure that you find the Tsunkatse sport far more interesting than a collapsing micro-nebula."

"No, this is interesting. How often do you get to see a collapsing nebula?"

Undeterred, she continued. "I asked the Captain for Tuvok's assistance, but he was unable to leave as it is the day of-"

Chakotay waved her off. "Yeah, yeah, Vulcan stuff. Trust me, I know."

"As a spiritual person, yourself, I would think you understood the importance of Holy Days, Commander." Seven murmured, watching him with no small amount of guilt.

"I do understand." He gave her a smile, his hand ceasing its drumming to instead pull up a systems diagnostic to fill his time with. "It's fine, really. I don't mind helping. And I'm sure the micro-nebula will be interesting."

She wasn't assuaged, giving him an apologetic nod before turning back to her own console. The little blinking light on her screen caught her eye. Incredulously, she spoke up. "There's a vessel approaching us- on an intercept course."

"What?" Chakotay perked up, turning to look at her confusedly before pulling up his own data. "The hull configuration isn't registering as anything we have seen before. How far out is it?"

"Aproximately three hundred kilometers."

"Hail them. Let's see what the hell they want."

Seven entered the command and was answered with a chime. "No response."

Chakotay nodded, his hands flying over his console to send out a signal. "Chakotay to Voyager."

Seven made a frustrated noise. "The vessel is emitting some kind of dampening field. We've lost engines, weapons, shields-" The shuttle going dark and still cut her off. "Commander-"

"What is that?!" Chakotay was already out of his seat and looking down at the blinking red device that had appeared behind them as the lights flickered back to life. The silver device beeped out a steady rhythm as its red light flashed.

"It's an explosive of some sort." Seven answered, her console quickly deducing the power behind the blinking device. "We've lost transporters- I can't beam it off!"

Chakotay pulled a tricorder from the toolkit behind his chair. "I'll try to disarm-" A bright light- red with heat- and a concussive screech cut him off, and then the cabin was silent.

**XXX**

**So what did you think? Love it? Hate it? Tell me in a review!**

**It's a bit shorter than I usually do for chapters, but it was an organic cutoff point.**

**~LM**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes: Welcome to chapter two! Thank you for those who left me reviews- and for those who added me to their author/story alerts. I see you, too! Now we split a bit from the episode to add my own spin. Thank you to Scifi and Starshine for letting me tell them a story! I hope you enjoy!**

**~LM**

**XXX**  
The entire universe must have tilted on its side before righting again. There could be no other explanation for the intense, stomach churning vertigo she felt as she began to return to consciousness. The back of her head and neck felt as though they had been licked by fire- burned and blistered and badly bandaged. One arm was tucked beneath her back, its angle odd enough to cut off bloodflow, leaving it to ache in tandem beat with her heart. Some bright light shone down on her through eyelids too heavy to bother lifting just yet. Breathing was more important. '_How do you breathe again?_' Where was she? Where was Chakotay?

"Leave her there." a smooth voice said nonchalantly from somewhere across the room, "Well, well.. what do we have here?" Footsteps to her left- four- lead whoever spoke to lean over her prone form. "Borg?"

"It appears so, sir." another voice added. "What do you want done with her?"

A trilling beep sounded near her temple. It was enough of a surprise to wake the rest of her sluggish brain. When she blinked open her eyes, she was looking into a man's pale face. His forehead was large, with a smooth crest bulging vertically over each eyebrow. The rest of his face appeared human enough- a nose, two eyes, a mouth- and two long tendrils of auburn hair growing from the corners of his lips, curled and tucked back into the rest of his hair. "..superior strength, agility, stamina.." He pulled the beeping scanner back from where it now hovered over her abdomen. "We've never had a Borg before." He spoke to the group of armed men behind him. "She's sure to be a very popular contender. Wash her up. She can be a fighter."

"And the other?"

The man smirked, tucking his scanner away in his pocket. "Well, I suppose that's up to her, now isn't it?"

Seven managed to force her mouth to move, screaming in her head, but her voice came out small and feeble. "Where am I?" she asked, pausing to clear her throat as she caught the auburn-haired man's attention. The look he gave her was akin to a kid in a candy shop or a starving man looking at a juicy bit of steak. She was not intimidated. "Where is Commander Chakotay?"

The man practically licked his lips. "Ah, so you decided to join us after all." He sat back onto his haunches when she sat up from her spot on the worn rug, more to keep from bumping her head against his than in any fear of her. "What is your name?"

"Where is Commander Chakotay?" she repeated, blinking her eyes to focus them, scanning the room around her and the four men in black flack holding phaseresque weapons at the ready. The soldiers stood between her and the only door in or out. The room they were in was roughly the size of the Captain's ready room with dark tan walls to match the large, cluttered desk that was the room's centerpiece. Various knicknacks and trophies lined the silver shelves on the wall behind the desk, framing an oversized portrait of the man scanning her. She focused back on the man in front of her. He obviously was the one in charge.

"Commander Chakotay?" he asked smoothly. "Your companion on the shuttle? He's here."

"I wish to see him." Seven said firmly, clenching her human hand to get the blood flowing back through it. "Where is he?"

The auburn-haired man turned and nodded to one of the armed men. The guard yanked open the hinged door beside him, gesturing to whoever was within. Another couple of guards came in, Chakotay unconscious and limp in their hold as they carried him. He was dropped unceremoniously beside Seven before the guards filtered back out of the room, pulling the door shut behind them.

Seven shot her hand out to feel for the pulse in Chakotay's throat even though she could hear his raspy breathing. Angry red burns covered half of his face and one side of his body, his uniform peppered with burn holes revealing the wounds beneath. Ice blue eyes glared up at the leader as he merely watched her react to her comrade's injuries. "He requires medical attention."

"So he does." agreed the leader, a predatory smile spreading across his face. "Medical attention that I could certainly see to his receiving."

"Then see to it."

The man chuckled, an irritatingly aloof noise. "Look at you- you haven't even won a match yet, and you're already making demands like a prized champion." He crossed his arms, standing and leaning back against the large desk behind him. His movement disrupted the papers scattered across it, but he paid no mind to the few that slipped off to join the others littering the floor. "That's good, though, because I like champions."

The ex-drone continued to scowl at the bulbous-faced man before reiterating. "He requires medical attention."

Another throaty chuckle burst from the man's lips. "I must say.. for a Borg.. you certainly seem to care quite a bit about the fate of this one.. whatever species he is. I've never known drones to care about anything but the Collective or their pursuit of so-called perfection." He pursed his lips for a moment, but his eyes practically danced as he watched her. "Though, I will admit I have not known, well, any drones."

"I am no longer part of the Collective."

"Ah, so an ex-communicated drone.. interesting.. but you still have all of your.." His eyes dropped first to her chest before trailing down to the silver lacing on her left hand. "..enhancements?"

At her side, Chakotay let out a wet groan, something gurgling in his throat. Seven ignored the man's leering, her concern over the Commander trumping the disgust that roiled in her belly. "Are you going to treat him or not?" Seven demanded, pulling her feet under her and standing. The guards bristled behind their leader, their backs straightening, hands hovering over weapons. She paid them no mind, her attention squarely on the auburn-haired man.

"I could.. for a price."

"..What price?"

The predatory smile morphed into a triumphant grin. The leader was practically giddy with glee as he wrung his hands hungrily in front of him. "My name is Penk. You are aboard the Tsunkat, my vessel."

"Tsunkat?" Seven frowned. "As in Tsunkatse?"

"Now you're getting it! Yes, Tsunkatse. This is it! This is where the magic happens!" Penk practically oozed pride. "And you, my girl, are about to be my most popular attraction. Imagine it, boys," he turned his attention momentarily to the guards behind him. "A Borg on display! Imagine the ratings!"

"Tsunkatse is a barbaric sport." Seven spat. "I have no intention of playing your game!"

The smile was replaced with a dark look as he turned back to her. "Then I have no intention of helping your little pet." He nudged Chakotay's arm with the toe of one shiny, pointed leather boot, eliciting a little grunt from the slowly waking Commander. "I don't mind my fighters having their little pets- in fact, it's quite encouraged. A little bargaining chip never hurt anybody. But pets are not required." He crossed his arms, tapping his thumb against his bottom lip in thought. "We will schedule a bout for him." he decided. "Once he's woken up, anyway. A Red Match against the Pensarkan Punisher."

"He's in no fit state to fight anyone!" argued Seven.

"Well, that's just fine then." returned Penk. "A Red Match doesn't end until one of the fighters dies. He doesn't have to fight at all- only die."

The burning heat along her back and neck were suddenly quenched by a feeling akin to a bucket of cold water being dumped over her head. She nearly sputtered before Penk continued.

"He wouldn't survive, of course.." Penk said, turning to begin walking a slow circle around both the fallen Commander and the blonde ex-drone in his clutches. "But you.. now, you just might." Another cluck of his tongue. "In fact, with your enhanced physiology, I would bet my money that you would."

Seven dropped her eyes as Penk walked behind her, looking down at the still unconscious Commander. One of his arms looked broken, an odd angle added to the middle of his forearm. His breathing was steady, but shallow and wet, his coloring pale, lips purple. He likely had internal injuries to match the external. Without a tricorder, she had no way of knowing just how bad it was, and if he would survive without medical attention long enough for Voyager to discover they were missing. Would he make it to their rescue? Would he make it to the end of the day? "What.. is it that you want.. of me?" she asked slowly, catching Penk's eyes again as he made the circle around them.

"You, my girl, are going to sign a contract." said Penk, rounding his desk and lifting a yellow folder already prepped and waiting for her on top of it. "You are going to be a fighter. We will start with a three month tenure-"

"Three months?" Her silver orbital implant raised.

"Three months." Penk confirmed. "You will eat, breathe, and live Tsunkatse. Your current life- whatever it is- is now forfeit to me. You work for me. If you work hard, train hard, and win your matches, you and your pet might just make it out of here alive."

"Alive?" Alarm bells were going off inside Seven's head. She had merely overheard the others on Voyager explaining Tsunkatse to one another- it was not a sport she had spent any time researching over the micro-nebula that had caught her attention. She'd gleaned enough information to denote Tsunkatse as barbaric, but just how brutal was the game, really?

Penk only smirked, laying the contract out like a deck of cards on his desk. "If you survive your tenure, we will drop you and your pet off on the nearest inhabited planet and part ways."

Seven frowned, crossing her arms under her bust. "Our ship will come looking for us."

"And they will not find you in time." assured Penk with that same insufferable grin. "In fact, time is quite against you."

"Elaborate."

"This vessel.. is a very special vessel." Penk explained. "The outer hulls are meters thick to compensate for the temporal reactor inside-"

"Temporal reactor?" Seven hissed in surprise. "What-"

"When- or if- we release you at the end of your contract.. well, only a few days will have passed for your shipmates. By then, we will be done with you, and you will be free to go.. assuming you survive."

"Are you that desparate for people to participate in your game that you must resort to kidnapping them?" the blonde demanded, her mind trying to wrap around and identify the species of origin that such technology would have come from, and coming up short.

Penk lost his grin, the sour look darkening his face as he leaned forward over his desk threateningly. "You talk like we haven't done this before.. The rules are simple: You earn your keep. You want to be fed regularly? You work for it. Once your pet is well again he will join the other pets to work while you train. If you die, he dies. If he dies, you die. Is that black and white enough for you?" He snapped his fingers, and immediately, Chakotay was surrounded by guards pointing their phasers at him. "Does this help?"

The blonde nodded, her hands held up placatingly. "Do not harm him!"

"Sign!" Penk demanded, dropping a pen on top of the contract.

"If I sign, you will heal him?"

"Sign, and you will see just how accomodating I can be."

Seven skirted the armed guards, walking up to the desk and lifting the pen. With one last glance back at the Commander's prone form, she quickly jotted down her name.

Penk pulled up the signed contract with a flourish, reading her signature. "Well... Seven of Nine... welcome to Tsunkatse."

**XXX**

Though there was no clock in the room with her, her internal chronometer told her that it had been exactly forty-nine minutes and twelve seconds since she had been separated from Chakotay. She could only hope that Penk had kept his word and that the Commander was indeed being treated for his injuries. Outside of hope, there wasn't anything else she could do. The room she was in resembled basic quarters- the room longer than it was wide, with two simple beds across from one another at its farthest end. A small table with two chairs had been placed in the middle beside a counter that held a small sink and single burner over a cabinet of kitchen implements and a small refrigerated stasis unit. The only door in or out of the dorm was down a short hallway carved beside a small bathroom.

Every inch of both rooms had been meticulously inspected- searched over for any means of weapon or escape- but none had been readily apparent. The dorm had been set up to be clean and almost inviting. The dark blue comforter she sat on was soft, the carpeted floors were plush, the shower curtain floral and bright, but there was an overwhelming sterility that kept her on edge.

Footsteps down the hall outside the door pulled her attention away from the contents of the room. She quickly stood to her feet, fully on guard, before the door slid open. Chakotay was shoved inside the room hard enough to cause him to stumble and fall to all fours. Before he could whirl around and fight or yell or curse, the door slid shut again, cutting them off from the guards and the hallway outside.

"Commander!" Seven rushed to Chakotay's side as he stood, eyeing him over. He had been changed out of his burned uniform and into a pair of simple grey pants with a matching grey tshirt over top. His arms were pinkened in places where before had been burns, and his face was still slightly swollen around his cheekbone where before was a nasty bruise. He wasn't healed to the Doctor's capabilities, but he was far better off than he had been.

"Seven!" Chakotay angrily brushed imaginary dust from his knees. "Where the hell are we?"

"We are aboard a vessel. They beamed an explosive device into our shuttle and-"

"And it blew up." Chakotay cut Seven off, glaring at the room around them. "Yeah, trust me- I remember that part." He peaked into the bathroom, flipping the light on and eyeing the white bathrug and blue patterned shower curtain before turning his attention back to Seven watching him. "Any idea what they want?"

"Yes.. My.. compliance." Seven answered slowly, watching him grumpily inspect the same quarters she had already poured over.

"Compliance?" Chakotay scowled. "With what?"

Behind them, the door into the dorm slid open again, revealing Penk and a group of armed guards. "Ah, my dear Seven of Nine!" he greeted with an arrogant little laugh, stepping through the doorway. His tone of voice set her teeth on edge, speaking to her with a sense of familiarity he had yet to earn. "I've just run the numbers! You're going to make us millions!" He rounded the slighted Commander and irritated ex-drone, looking boredly around the small dorm. "I have assigned you a Green Match for the day after tomorrow." He ran a finger across the counter in front of the sink, lifting it for inspection before wiping it on his pantsleg. "Today you will rest. Never say that I am not lenient."

Chakotay's eyes boggled. "Green Match? What?"

Penk ignored him, his attention back on Seven. "Tomorrow, you will train with the others to prepare. I've assigned Hagen to explain the game to you. It doesn't make for good entertainment when the fighters don't know the rules of the game." He gave Seven's form an appraising eye. "And though your current attire is rather.. alluring.. you will be fitted for a jumpsuit in the morning. I believe the silver Tsunkatse uniform will go nicely with the silver of your implants."

"Hey, just who the hell do you think you are?" Chakotay started again, only to be punched in the stomach by the nearest guard. He managed not to fall, but remained standing, trying to catch the wind that had been knocked out of him. It was obvious to him that they had done the bare minimum when healing his injuries, and he wondered vaguely if the vicious punch had undone any of their work.

Seven started forward. "Do not harm him!"

Penk snapped his fingers, shooing off the guard. "Oh do leave her little pet alone." he chastised. "He will learn the rules for himself tomorrow when he joins the others." He eyed Chakotay, doubled over leaned against the wall. He met the injured man's eyes cooly. "He's got some fight in him as well. He will need it in the mines."

"What.. mines..?" Chakotay ground out, trying his hardest to keep his stomach from rolling again. He wasn't capable of looking up yet.

Again, he was ignored. Penk gave Seven's arm a hint of a friendly pat. "We will have you fed and rested. The guards will be along in the morning to collect you."

The second that Penk and the guards were out of the room, Seven was at Chakotay's side. "Are you alright?" she asked as he managed to lean up with his back against the wall.

"Oh, just peachy." he replied sarcastically, shaking her helping hands from his arm. "Just where are we?"

"Aboard the Tsunkat."

"The Tsunkat?" His eyes were large with surprise when he looked up at her. "As in Tsunkatse?"

Seven nodded, sardonically commenting, "This is, as Penk says, where the magic happens."

**XXX**

Since she had spent so much time on the bunk in the far right corner of the room, she thought that she may as well consider it claimed. Chakotay had done just as she had before and scoured the room, going so far as to pull out the small refrigerated stasis unit to peer behind and removing the shower curtain rod from the room to check for anything to use against the guards. He obviously was too irritated to want to speak to her, and she was quite convinced that half of his actions now were merely for the sake of action instead of based on any sort of logical searching for escape. Every time she had attempted to speak to him- to ask him what he was doing or explain to him what had happened in the office with Penk while Chakotay had been unconscious- he quickly shut her down. After an hour, she quit trying, taking up position on the bed to watch.

"Do you think they have cameras in here?"

Seven eyed him warily, unsure if he really was asking her a question or if he was talking to himself again. When he finally turned to her expectantly, she shook her head, her own eyes circling the room to places that would be obvious for cameras. "I have not seen evidence that there are."

"Maybe we can use the shower curtain rod to force open the door."

"Could you have used a shower curtain rod to force open a fully functional locked door on Voyager?"

His eyes were slits when he turned them back to her, his brows drawn in a frown. "..no. Not a fully functional one." he spat, turning back to size up the door. "What if we rushed them?"

"Pardon?"

"We can use the burner to set one of the blankets on fire, and when they come in to put it out, we rush them."

Seven snorted. "And if they leave us in here long enough to die of asphyxiation first?"

Chakotay whirled on her. "Well, I don't know, but at least I'm trying!" He stalked back up to the bed, sitting heavily down across from her. "Can't you use your arm to do anything- your tubules or whateve-"

The amused expression on Seven's face quickly morphed to one of hurt indignation. "I am a human being, Chakotay!" she hissed, "Not a swiss army knife!"

Her comment and the look on her face cooled the angry fires burning Chakotay from the inside out. It had been a long time since he had seen more than just calm, cool, and collected on her face. Anger now and then, yes. But hurt? "I know you're not." he replied with a sigh, leaning back against the wall behind him. "But what else are we supposed to do?"

"Wait." At his incredulous stare, she continued. "Even if we get out of this room, we cannot escape so easily. Not without learning more about the temporal reactor."

Chakotay's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "The _what_?"

"If you would have listened to me earlier-"

"Less lecture, more information." commanded the Commander, leaning forward again towards her. "What temporal reactor?"

"While you were unconscious before, Penk and I-"

"Who is Penk?"

"The man in charge of this ship." She paused for a moment, expecting other questions, but he gestured for her to continue. "I spoke with Penk. He examined me as I was regaining consciousness, and decided that I would be a profitable attraction for Tsunkatse. Though I still feel that the sport itself is barbaric, I.. traded my compliance for your medical treatments. When I-"

He cut her off again. "You what?" he hissed, eyes flashing angrily, "Seven, we-"

"-Were running out of time." she interjected. "You appeared to have internal bleeding. You would have died!"

"Voyager would-"

"Voyager won't find us, Chakotay." Being spoken over was getting old fast. "Penk explained to me that there is a temporal reactor in the heart of this ship. This is what he does. He finds people, kidnaps them, forces them to compete in terms, and then releases them after. Months will have gone by in here, but only days will have gone by out there."

"How is that possible? Is that possible?"

"Entirely possible." answered Seven. "The Borg assimilated several species with such technology... though maybe not on this scale." She frowned. "Typically it was used for crops on planets with very little fertile land. They could produce more food in a significantly smaller amount of time to feed their populations.. but a ship like this? Even the Borg are not advanced enough to.." She shook her head. "Either Penk has found a race that is even more advanced than the Borg and bartered their technology, or-"

"Or someone cobbled together a temporal reactor?" Chakotay snorted. "Great."

"It may not have been so difficult to adapt to a ship this size, but for a cube? Or even a sphere?"

Another thought hit Chakotay and he sat up with the idea. "Wait! So, what, all the fights are pre-recorded?" He scrunched his nose. Somehow, this was the thing he felt was most distasteful. It took all the magic right out of the sport.. not that being kidnapped by the people running the sport made it all that much better.

"I would assume so." Seven murmured. "I signed a three month contract. That gives Voyager... roughly a day or so to find us."

The Commander let out a long breath. "Why you?" he muttered, leaning back against the wall again. "You can't even box."

A scowl drew over Seven's face. "Because I am Borg."

**XXX**

The two spent the night in silence, settled across from one another on the wire frame beds. Seven drew her legs up onto the bed, leaned into the very corner of the room, awake. Chakotay turned to sprawl across his bed, his legs dangling off the edge and the white cased pillow pulled over his eyes. The room was quiet save for the quiet snores from the Commander, the soft hum of the refrigerated stasis unit, and the occasional rush of air from the HVAC vent over the bathroom door. The lights had dimmed of their own accord an hour or so after Penk had left them- on timers, Seven would guess. The rooms she knew to be on either side of her- and only because she had noted doors when she had been transferred here- were either well insulated or empty of inhabitants, adding to the feelings of helplessness and loneliness she was barely keeping at bay.

It was going to be a long couple of months.

The sound of the door sliding open was enough to jerk Seven out of her quiet contemplations, her eyes flying open and vision narrowing on the two guards at the door. With their interruption, the lights that had gone dim several hours before came on to full, briefly-blinding brightness. In the bed across the room from her, Chakotay stirred quickly, sitting up just as the guards pushed a silver box into the room. With leering eyes, but no words, they watched Seven as the door slid closed between them again. Only when she heard the locking mechanism engage did she sit up as Chakotay was.

Chakotay let out a tired sigh, rubbing the heels of his hands into his eyes to clear the sleep from them. "Ugh." he grumbled.

"There were fourteen boxes on the cart." Seven said, easing her feet down onto the floor while she examined the mental screenshot in her head. Peripherally, she could see Chakotay scratch his side while looking at her in confusion. She turned to meet his eyes. "The guards." she explained. "They were pushing a cart of cases identical to that one."

"Oh?"

"So there are at least fourteen other dorms to visit."

He swung his legs out to put his feet on the floor. "..oh?"

Seven sighed, holding back the rolling of her eyes. "That means there are at least fourteen other people.. and if each of them has a ..pet?"

Chakotay nodded. "Right. Twenty-eight other people- wait. Pet?"

She shrugged, standing and making her way to the box to examine it. "It was a word Penk used to describe your relation to me in this.. debacle."

Behind her, the Commander snorted. "Debacle?" He was quick to cross the room behind her, reaching out and grabbing her hand away before she could touch the silver metal. "Wait- what if it is another explosive?"

"What would be the point of that?"

"..I don't know."

The box itself was roughly the size of a small cargo container similar to the ones taken on away missions to gather small samples. It was heavy when Seven lifted it up to place it on the small round table. Chakotay was the one to actually open it, though she wasnt sure if it was because he really thought it may have been another explosive device or because she wasn't being fast enough for him. Instead of a bomb, the Commander pulled bottles of water, a hastily wrapped loaf of brown bread, and a bag of something that may have at one time been meat.

"Hungry?" he asked, discarding the bag of meat and holding out the loaf of bread.

"I-"

A loud pounding on the dorm's door cut Seven off as she and Chakotay both whirled to face it. A loud, gruff voice came from the other side. "Ya got ten minutes!" Another few heavy blows reverberated around the room before it fell quiet again.

"Ten minutes until what?" Chakotay snorted.

Seven shook her head. "I don't know." She took the loaf of bread and tore it in half, holding a piece back out to Chakotay. "Eat."

He looked at her incredulously. "Eat? Seven-"

From inside the box, she fished out a small wheel of cheese, quickly tearing it in half and shoving Chakotay's portion into his hands. "Eat. Who knows when we will be offered sustenance again?" When he crooked an eyebrow at her, she explained. "They may not decide to feed us again for a day or more, so take in as many calories as you can while we have the opportunity to." She quickly bit off a piece of her bread before setting the hunk aside on the table. In the bottom of the box she found a folded stack of clothes. When Seven shook them out, they were two pairs of the same soft grey pants and white shirts. Beneath them were a pair of black strapped shoes, a pair of black rubber work boots, and two pairs of grey socks.

Chakotay swallowed his bite of cheese as he furrowed his brow. "Clothes?"

"I assume they do not want us to wear the same articles of clothing for the duration of our.."

"Debacle?" offered Chakotay with a little smirk.

The blonde couldn't stop the little upturning of her lips. "Yes." She bit off another bite of the brown bread, using a swig off a water bottle to force it down her throat before reaching for the zipper at the back of her neck. "We can-"

Another set of loud bangs startled the two at the table as the same gruff voice rang through the door. "Five minutes!"

Chakotay nearly fumbled his cheese, catching it and ripping a chunk of it off with his teeth. "Seven-"

"Keep your strength up." Seven unhooked the closure at the top of her zipper. "Change your clothes." She instructed him as he gawked at her. "We will conform to the Tsunkatse collective. Fit in. We can try to learn about the reactor today."

Chakotay's eyes widened as he understood, grabbing one of the white shirts and grey pants. "Oh." He took another quick bite of cheese before heading towards the little bathroom, leaving the door open to hear her. "If we can figure out where it is, or how to disable it.."

"Then we can be off this ship and back to Voyager before the Captain even knows we were missing." finished Seven, quickly stripping away her biosuit and pulling on the pants and shirt.

Chakotay nodded even though she couldn't see him. The hint of an idea of something to do- some kind of plan- was enough to lift his mood. "Sounds like a plan. We can just stick together until then, and be out of here in no time."

**XXX**

The five minutes passed quickly before the door slid open and a group of four guards rushed into the room. They wore the same black padded flack and black helmets to protect their heads, guns in their hands and aimed at Chakotay and Seven before the door was even fully opened. The lead guard was the one to speak. "Come on."

"Where?" Seven asked, letting Chakotay take the first step towards the guards.

"Commons." answered the guard, waiting until the two passed him before following, boxing them in with the guards in front leading them out of the dorm.

They were lead down a long corridor of numbered doors. Seven guessed by the spacing that they were all little dorms just like the one they had spent the night in. There was a right turn at the end of the corridor, and then a left down a long stretch of hallway past doors labeled not with numbers but with words- Infirmary, Kitchen, Waste Disposal. If any of the rooms contained consoles to access ship schematics or systems, it was not labeled on any door, nor were there any of the convenient stations set up along the walls here and there like there had been on Voyager. Likely their captors didn't want their captives to have any kind of access to ship's systems.

At the end of the last hall, double doors slid open to reveal a large white and silver room the size of Voyager's shuttle bay. The back half was full of round tables with benches bolted to the floor that could seat eight. To the far right were uneven bars, racks of weights, and several benches. To the left were rows of silver rubber work boots on the floor leading to a closed silver door. Scattered around the room were all walks of humanoids, some sitting and talking at the tables, a few standing in circles speaking here and there. When Seven and Chakotay were lead into the room, all conversation stopped as easily one hundred sets of eyes turned to take in the newcomers.

The lead guards gave a hesitant Chakotay and Seven a push into the room as a loud beeping tone came over the speakers mounted in the ceiling. "Fighters over there." the guard barked out. "Pets to the left. Move!"

"What?" Chakotay asked, not missing the quickly hidden look of panic that flit across Seven's face.

"I said move!" Two of the guards grabbed Chakotay, shoving him to the left where half the room was already flowing. Men and women, all dressed in grey pants and white shirts, hurried to grab a pair of work boots before slipping into the now open silver door. "Now!"

"Hey!" Chakotay protested at the treatment, glaring at the guards as he caught his balance only to be shoved back again. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Seven was being lead more calmly to the right, following the group of people heading towards the door to the right. She gave him a concerned look over her shoulder before she was ushered inside.

**XXX**

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**~LM**


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